Vazquez, Caguas Win Puerto Rico Championship

BY ANDRES FOCIL

FAYETTEVILLE – In a championship series that featured three former Razorbacks, Ashley Vazquez and Criollas de Caguas defeated Leonas de Ponce to win the Puerto Rico Superior League title. On the other side of the net, Ponce’s roster included Raymariely Santos and Janeliss Torres-Lopez. Caguas secured the title with a 3-0 win on its home court.

The teams split the first two matches before Caguas won the third and fourth matches to take a 3-1 advantage in the series. Ponce extended the series with a straight-set win on its home court before Caguas posted a sweep in the series finale Tuesday evening. Vazquez saw action in four of the six matches with a series-high four sets played in Caguas’ five-set win in the fourth match.

With the result in Puerto Rico, the Razorbacks have seen two former standouts win titles this season at the professional level. Amanda Anderson helped lead Brondby win a league title in Denmark’s professional league in April. Individually, Torres-Lopez was named the LVSF Rookie of the Year following her first full season with Ponce.

Over the past two years, Arkansas volleyball has had seven former student-athletes extend their careers by signing with a team at the professional level. Roslandy Acosta just signed a new contract to play with Volley Koniz in Switzerland while Kasey Heckelman spent this past season with Pislaploki in Finland. Jasmine Norton spent her first season as a pro in Puerto Rico before signing with Sollentuna in Sweden.

In preparation of its upcoming season, Arkansas has paired with Bring It Promotions for a four-country, 13-day European tour from May 20-June 1. During the trip, the Razorbacks will visit Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and the Czech Republic with competition dates and sightseeing scheduled at each stop. As announced Wednesday by the league office, Arkansas will play six matches on the new SEC Network during the 2014 season.

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